Adjustable shelving



Oct. 2, 1962 G. R. SQUIRES, JR., ETAL 3,056,507

ADJUSTABLE SHELVING Filed Dec. 1, 1960 INVENTORS 650265 E. 5001255 JP.

RA w J Mu 5 ilnited rates Patent 3,056,507 ADJUSTABLE SHELVING George R.fliguires, .11., Rurnson, and Richard W. Squires, Hopatcong, N31,assignors to Dover Maid Industries, Inc., a corporation of New .ierseyFiled Dec. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 72,977 9 Ciaims. (Cl. 211136) The presentinvention relates to adjustable shelving.

There are advantages to be gained by an arrangement of shelving by whichdifferent spacing may the provided between shelves. Such flexibilitypermits more efficient use of shelf space and increases the use to whichthe shelves may be put.

Efliciency and utility may be further increased if the shelving can alsobe adjusted as to over all height. Such an additional adjustment tendsto improve the appearance of the shelving as well.

In providing for the additional flexibility it is important not tosacrifice sturdiness.

It is an object of the present invention to provide improved shelvingadjustable in spacing and over all height without sacrificing sturdinessand appearance.

According to this invention sheet metal shelves having perpendicularflanges stopping short of the corners are supported by telescoping anglemembers. A fastening means is provided in the form of a screw and wingedwasher which fits inside the shelf flanges and in cooperation with thescrew supports the shelving and fastens the telescoping sections of thecorner posts. The fastening means is arranged to provide an effectivemechanical joint assuring maximum sturdiness with neatness ofappearance.

Other and incidental objects of the invention will become apparent aftera reading of the following specification when considered in connectionwith the attached drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 illustrates the adjustable shelving constructed in accordancewith the teachings of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the telescoping feature of the corner posts.

FIGURE 3 illustrates the arrangement for fastening the shelves to thecorner posts.

FIGURE 4 shows in detail a member for fastening the shelving securely tothe wall.

FIGURE 5 shows in detail the beveled end of the shelving brace.

Throughout the various figures of the drawing the same number will beemployed to designate like elements.

Turning now in detail to FIGURE 1 there is shown an assembled adjustableshelf consisting of a plurality of shelves 11 supported by fourtelescoping corner posts 13. The shelves 11 are made of sheet metal. Theshelves 11 have a flat or planar section 15 with flanges 17 extendingabout the edges of the planar section 15. The flanges 17 areperpendicular to the planar section 15. The flanges 17 may also have aninward extension to still further increase the rigidity of the shelves11 without requiring that the shelves 11 be made of a heavy gauge sheetmetal.

The corner posts 13 consists of upper angle member 19 and lower anglemember 21. Lower angle member 21 is modified by the addition of a flange23 which extends around the edges of the upper angle member 21. Theflanges 23 may take a re-entrant or U shape or may be rolled. Theflanges 23 extend the full length of the lower angle member 21. Theflanges 23 are arranged to receive the edges 24 of the upper anglemember 19 to form a telescoping association between angle members 19 and21.

The corners of angle members 19 and 21 are flattened at 25 and 26. Aseries of holes 27 are spaced along the flat portions 25 and 26throughout the entire length of 3,356,567 Patented Oct. 2, 1962 theangle members 10 and 21. The spacing between the holes is uniform and isthe same in both the upper and lower angle members 19 and 21. Thedistribution of holes 27 is arranged such that hole is located near theends of the angle members 19 and 21. By placing a hole 27 near the topand bottom of the corner posts 13, one of the shelves 11 may bepositioned at the very top of the corner posts 13 to provide a neatappearance.

Turning now in detail to FIGURE 3 there is shown in cross section anarrangement according to the present invention for fastening the shelvesto the corner posts. The cross section is taken at the point in thecorner post where the telescoping angle members overlap. The corner ofthe shelf 11 is cut away in the drawing to show the shelf flanges 17.Shelf flanges 17 may have an inward extension 29 to increase rigidity ofthe shelf 11. The shelf flange 17 and its extension 29 stop short of thecorners of the shelves 11 by an amount which in combination with a cutoff corner of the planar surface provides a flattened corner for theshelves 111. The flattened corner for the shelves 11 corresponds to theflattened corner of the uper and lower angle members 19 and 21 formingthe corner posts 13.

The corner posts 13 and the shelves 11 are fastened together securely bya screw 31 and a Winged washer 33. Winged washer 33 may take the form ofa short section of angle iron with a flattened corner having a hole 34.The flattened corner of the winged washer 33 is similar in shape andsize to the flattened corner of the angle members 19 and 21. The widthof the winged Washer 33 may correspond to the width of the verticalsection of flange 17.

It will be seen therefore that when the angle members 19 and 21, theflanges 17 and the winged washer 33 are compressed together there isprovided a secure fastening between the shelves 11 and the corner posts13. Since the shelf flanges 17 stop short of the corner there exists anopening 35 between the angle member 21 and the winged washer 33. Theopening 35 permits a more secure fastening of the various componentssince the fastening does not bind at the flattened corner but bindsalong the flanges 17.

An improved joint may be obtained by having the relative angle betweenthe angle members 19 and 21 and the winged washer 33 such that theextremities of the angle members 19 and 21 and the winged washer 33engage the flange 17 before that portion of the angle members 19 and 21and winged washer 33 adjacent the flattened corners. For example, theangle of the angle members 19 and 21 may be slightly less than degrees,while the angle of the winged washer 33 is greater than 90 degrees. Or,for example, the angle members 19 and 21 may be exactly 90 degrees andthe winged washer 33 greater than 90 degrees.

Turning now to FIGURE 4 there is shown a top view of fastening platemember 37 which is employed to fasten the shelving to the wall 39.Member 37 consists of a flat piece of heavy gauge metal. Member 37 isshaped so that it may be located so as to point outward or inward fromthe rear corner posts 13. Member 37 is fastened to the outside of cornerposts 13. Alternate positions of the upper section 19 of the cornerposts 13 are shown in dotted lines. Plate member 37 is fastened to wall39 with screws 41.

Still another feature of the fastening plate member 37 is that the rearof the shelving can be fastened tight against the wall or the shelvingmay be spaced slightly from the wall. A close inspection of FIGURE 4 ofthe drawing illustrates that if the fastening plate member 37 extendsoutward from the shelving as shown in the upper part of the figure, theupper angle member 19 of the corner post will be flush against the wall.However, as shown in the lower part of the figure, if the fasteningplate member 37 extends inwardly from the upper angle member ice 19 ofthe corner posts a bevel 43 in the fastening plate member 37 provides aspacing between the upper angle member 19 and the wall 39.

Since the shelving is generally shipped and marketed in a knocked downcondition, the purchaser may decide whether he desires a slight spacingfrom the wall, perhaps to overcome surface irregularities, or whether aflush mounting is desired.

The description and the illustration in FIGURE 3 of the drawing aredirected to the shelf fastening at a location where both the upper andlower angle members 39 and 21 are telescoped together. It will beunderstood that the same illustration of FIGURE 3 and the descrip tionthereof are applicable where the shelves 1]. are fastened to only theupper or the lower angle members of the corner posts 13.

in order to still further strengthen the shelving there are providedcorner braces 45. (See FIGURE l). The corner braces 45 extend diagonallyacross the upper rear corners of the shelving. The corner braces consistof strap metal having holes 47 in their ends and bevels 49 to fit theends of the braces 45 snugly against the flattened corners of the cornerposts 13. The fastenings as shown in FIGURE 3 may also include the endsof the corner braces &5, or the braces may be fastened at any locationalong the corner posts 13.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. Adjustable metal shelving comprising in combination sheet metalshelves each having peripheral perpendicular flanges stopping short ofthe shelf corners, corner posts each consisting of a first and secondangular shaped member, the first of said angular shaped members having apair of outwardly extending reverse flanges at its edges, the reverseflanges engaging the edges of the second angular shaped member in atelescoping manner, said angular shaped members having flattenedcorners, a series of holes in said flattened corners, the series ofholes having similar spacing in both the first and second angular shapedmembers, means for fastening said shelves to said corner postscomprising a winged member engaging the inside of the flanges of saidshelf, a bolt fastening the flanges of said shelf between said wingedmember and said corner posts, at least one of said bolts in each cornerof the metal shelving also fastening the first and second angular shapedmember together.

2. The adjustable shelving as set forth in claim 1 and wherein diagonalbracing is provided, said diagonal bracing comprising strap membershaving bevelled ends which fit against the flattened corners of saidangle members, and are fastened to said angle members with the screwsthat fasten said shelves and corner posts.

3. The adjustable shelving as set forth in claim 1 and wherein there areprovided plate members to fasten the shelving against a wall, said platemembers having a bevelled end which is arranged to fit against and isclamped to the flattened corners of said corner posts.

4. The adjustable shelving as set forth in claim 3 and wherein saidplate member has a bevel at each end, one of said bevel being offset toprovide spacing of the shelving from the wall.

5. Adjustable metal shelving comprising a plurality of sheet metalshelves, said shelves having a planar portion surrounded by aperpendicular flange, the corners of said shelves cut off to flatten thecorners of the planar portion of said shelf and limit the extension ofthe flanges short of the corners to form a groove in the flanges ofpredetermined size, corner posts for said shelving comprising a pair ofangle members, one of the angle members having longitudinal flangesfolding outwardly and around the edges of the other angle member to forma telescoping corner post, the corner of each of the angle members beingflattened to correspond with the flattened corners of the planar sectionof the metal shelves, a series of holes positioned along the flattenedcorners of both of said angle members, the spacing of the holes beinguniform and similar in both angle members, and means for fastening theshelves to the corner posts comprising an angular bracket substantiallycorresponding in width to the width of the flange of said shelves andhaving a flattened corner corresponding substantially to the flattenedcorners of said angle members, a screw for clamping the flanges of theshelves and the angle member of the corner post having the longitudinalflanges between said angular bracket and the other angle member nothaving the flanges thereby fastening the shelves and fastening thetelescoping corner posts.

6. Adjustable shelving comprising in combination a plurality of shelvesof sheet metal having a planar section, each shelf havingcircumferential flanges extending downwardly, the lower edges of saidflanges turned inwardly to form a flange extension parallel with saidplanar section, corner posts each consisting of a pair of cooperatingmembers angular in cross section, one member having a longitudinalflange extending outwardly around each edge of the other member forsupport in a telescoping manner, means for fastening said shelves tosaid corner posts comprising a washer having flanges extending atsubstantially right angles to each other, a screw for clamping thecorner of a shelf between said corner post and the flanges of saidwasher, and to fasten a pair of cooperating members forming a cornerpost.

7. Adjustable shelving comprising in combination a plurality of shelveshaving flat portions, flanges extending perpendicularly from the edge ofsaid flat portions, said flanges having extensions parallel to said flatportions, said flanges also terminating short of the corners to providean opening having predetermined width, corner posts to support saidshelves comprising inner and outer angle members, reversely bent flangesalong the edges of the inner angle member engaging the outer anglemember to provide a telescoping corner post, the corners of said anglemembers being flattened, the flattened corners including a series ofholes having like longitudinal separation in said telescoping sections,and fastening means comprising a nut, bolt, and modified washer, themodified washer having a flat portion and wings, said wings engaging theinner surface of the flanges when the outer, inner angle members, theshelf flanges and modified washer are compressed by said nut and bolt,said predetermined width opening in the corners of said shelves, thewidth of the flattened corners of said angle members and the width ofthe flat portion of the modified washer being substantially equal.

8. Adjustable metal shelving comprising telescoping angular corner postssupporting a plurality of sheet metal shelves, said sheet metal shelvehaving vertical flanges stopping short of the corner to form a groove inthe flanges at the corners, said corner posts comprising a pair of anglemembers, the inner angle member having lateral extensions outside andaround the lateral edges of the outer angle members to provide thetelescoping association of the angle members, the corners of said anglemembers being flattened, a series of holes along the flattened corners,the spacing of the holes being uniform and corresponding in both saidangle members, means to fasten said shelves to said corner postscomprising a winged member and a screw, said winged member to engage theinside of the flanges of said shelf, said screw compressing the flangesof said shelf and the inner angle member of said corner post betweensaid winged member and the outer angle member of said corner post, therelative angle of said winged member with respect to said angle membersbeing slightly dilferent in a manner to cause the transverse extremitiesof the angle member and the extremities of said winged member to engagethe flanges of said shelves on clamping before the engagement of theflanges of said shelves by the remainder of the winged members and anglemembers to form a rigid fastening without warping said shelves.

9. Adjustable shelving comprising a plurality of sheet metal shelves andassociated telescoping corner posts, said shelves having a flat portionand re-entrant flanges at the edges of the shelves, the corners of theshelves being removed to provide an opening at each corner, the flangesstopping short of the corners to form slots, said telescoping cornerposts comprising a pair of angle members, the inside angle membershaving longitudinal re-entrant flanges along its edges which engage theedges of the outer angle member in a telescoping manner, said insideangle members having flattened corners to correspond to the fllattenedcorners of said outer angle members, the flattened corners of said anglemembers having a series of holes having uniform spacing and means forfastening the shelving and corner posts comprising angle strips fittingwithin the re-entrant flanges of said shelves, a screw for clamping thecorner of said shelves between said angle strips and said corner postsand to fasten together the telescoping angle members of said cornerposts, the angle of said angle strips being slightly greater than 90degrees, the angle of said angle members being slightly less than 90degrees to provide a firm fastening.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,031,123 Kane July 2, 1912 1,603,742 Broderick Oct. 19, 1926 1,854,777Bales April 19, 1932 2,645,538 Segal July 14, 1953 2,670,935 ArnoldMarch 2, 1954 2,939,589 Handler June 7, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 705,152Great Britain March 10, 1954

